Crying babies welcome at ‘Reel Moms’ movie screenings at Loews

Moms with small children in Santa Monica can get out to the movies without having to hire a babysitter and without fear of a fussy youngster disturbing other audience members with the Reel Moms program, a weekly screening of current first-run movies where crying babies are welcome.

Reel Moms offers alternating screenings of new movies at 11 a.m. Tuesdays at Loews Broadway Cinemas 4, 1441 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica. Tickets are the matinee price of $8.25, and babies get in free.

The program is geared towards moms, but fathers and caregivers are also welcome to come with their child up to two years old.

Not to be mistaken as a program for small children, Reel Moms features no screenings of cartoons or kids’ films, just current movies.

“The idea is that parents and other caregivers of very small children who might have thought they had to give up watching movies in the theater can do something they enjoyed before they started caring for a baby in an environment where they can be comfortable with their baby, because everyone in the audience has one,” says Kathlyn Albright, a spokeswoman for Loews.

Special accommodations include keeping the theater’s lights brighter than normal to make changing and feeding easier, and keeping the sound at slightly lower than normal levels in case the babies decide to nap. There is also a stroller park outside the theater so moms can check their strollers at the door. The Reel Moms screenings do not include trailers and get right to the feature.

The Reel Moms program is in its third year at the Loews Broadway Cinemas 4, and has been successful mostly due to word of mouth — moms telling other moms — rather than heavy promotion.

“With very little traditional marketing, the Reel Moms program took off because new moms spread the word about it,” says John McCauley, senior vice-president of marketing at Loews.

The program is a national campaign, available at 28 Loews theaters in cities and suburbs across the United States.

More than simply a movie screening, the Reel Moms events include time for pre-movie socializing, entertainment, advice from guest speakers and mom- and baby-oriented giveaways.

The film schedule is announced on-line the week prior to the screening at